Coinbase drops merchant fees for first $1 million Bitcoin orders

In an attempt to help popularise the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin wallet and platform provider Coinbase has removed its merchant fees for the first $1 million in orders. Bitcoin has been seen as one of the possible means for disrupting the existing stranglehold that traditional banks have on financial transactions. Currently, whenever a business accepts payment via credit card, a base percentage fee is charged by banks for assisting in conducting the transaction. This fee is typically 1 to 5 percent of the order for Australian banks. Bitcoin, on the other hand, has no fees for accepting coins into an account, but the process of converting a balance back into fiat currency is much more difficult. However, the latest move by Coinbase has eliminated its merchant fee for the first $1 million. There is still the flat-rate $0.15 fee to take care of automated clearing house fees, but ...